Railroad safety device.



C. A. STURM & G. R. HURLBUT.

RAILROAD SAFETY DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. B. 1915.

1 ,21 8,8 1 6 Y I Patented Mar. 13,1917.

INVENTORS. WITNESSES: C'\'\c\(\5 A-5Tu rm George R-HuHb T BY ef /31 JnWfk/W 'ATW JEF? CHARLES A. STURM AND GEORGE R. HURLBUT,

OF PORTLAND, OREGON; SAID STURM ASSIGNOR T0 SAID HURLBUT.

RAILROAD SAFETY DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 13, 1-917.

Application filed September 8, 1915. Serial No. 49,483.

.To all witom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES A. STURM and GEORGE R. HURLBUT, citizens of the United States, residing at Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad Safety Devices, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to railroad signal systems in general, and especially to that class of safety devices for use with such systems as are adapted to automatically bring a train to rest should the signal be unnoticed by the engine driver.

The object of our invention is to provide a device that shall automatically bring a train to rest should the engine driver attempt to proceed past or beyond any signal that may be set against the train; to provide such a device that will be automatically set into operating position; when the signal is set against the train; and to provide such a device that shall be simple in construction, positive in operation, and economical in construction and installation.

We accomplish the above object by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which therefore becomes a part of this application for Letters Patent, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of that part of our invention that is installed between the rails and connected to the semaphore.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section across the rails showing a. locomotive frame and the mechanism that cooperates with that shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective detail view of the operating mechanism installed beneath the locomotive.

Fig. l is a diagrammatical plan view of the throttle and air brake valves and the operating mechanism thereof.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatical perspective view of an arrangement of operating mechanism upon the locomotive, alternative .to that shown in Fig. 3.-

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawing,in which:

'Numeral 1 is the semaphore stand or tower, and 2 thesemaphore to be operated 1n a manner well known to the art, and as the means of operation is not a part of our invention no description of same will be given here. i

In general our invention 6011818135 in setting a mechanism in the path of the train that shall cooperate with a mechanism upon the locomotive to shut off the steam andset the brakes simultaneously.

To install such a mechanism in the path of the train, we provide a double wedge shaped trigger 3 adapted to reciprocate vertically in a guide blocks; set betweenthe rails, said wedge shaped trigger 3 being installed longitudinally relative to the rails as shown in Fig. 1. lVhen said trigger 3 is withdrawn into block a so. that the upper surface of said trigger is flush with the upper surface of said block, the trigger is out of position to cooperate-with themechanism upon the locomotive, and when the trigger 3 is raised above the block 4; said trigger is in position to coiiperate with the mechanism upon the locomotive.

In order to. operate the trigger automatically and simultaneously with the semaphore, we provide a reach rod 5 within the tower 1 and eccentrically secured to the semaphore, or to some part of the semaphore operating mechanism. in such a manner as to reciprocate vertically when the semaphore is set or released, a shaft 6 connecting tower 1 with box 4, and levers 7 and 8 upon the ends of said shaft 6, as shown in Fig. 1.

Lever 7 is pivota-lly attached tor-each rod 5, and lever 8 is pivotally attached to trigger 3, so that when semaphore 2, is raised into position 2, and is thus set against the train, trigger 3 is raised. into position 8 and is thus in mechanism upon the locomotive and C01 verse y, When s m p ore 2 s. lowere r g e 3 iswi hdraarnrinto. b a k sa d aliaseposition to cooperate with the V motive may then pass without the mechanism thereon cooperating with trigger 3.

For a mechanism to install upon the locomotive to cooperate with trigger 3 for the purpose of shutting 011 the steam and setting the air brakes should said locomotive attempt to pass a semaphore set against such passage, we provide a pair of shoes 9 pivotally mounted beneath the locomotive in such a position as will adapt said shoes to contact with trigger 8 when same is raised above box 4.

Each shoe 9 has an extension 10 within the locomotive frame, and said extensions contact at diametrically opposite points with a cross arm 11 upon a vertical shaft 12.

Springs 13 serve to hold said shoes 9 substantially in contact one with the other, in such a position that the wedge 3 entering the spread ends let of said shoes 9 will force the same apart and thus through extension 10 and cross arm .11 will rotate vertical shaft 12.

The object of providing two shoes 9 is to compensate for the transverse shifting of the locomotive upon the rails so that if the locomotive is over to one side so far as to result in one of shoes 9 not contacting with trigger 3 the other shoe will operate independently to rotate shaft 12.

In the alternative mechanism shown in Fig. 5 the vertical shaft 12 has a lever arm 11 integral therewith and a reach rod 10 pivotally connected to said lever arm and to the upper end 9 of the shoe 9.

The advantage of this construction is that the trigger 3 may be of simple rectilineal construction and placed transversely intermediate the rails, being of sufficient width to accommodate the side play of the locomotive upon the track.

Shaft 12 is connected to a valve 15 in the steam line located between the throttle and the engine cylinders, and also to a valve 16 in the air brake service pipe by means of levers 17 upon said valves, lever 18 upon shaft 12, and link 19 connecting said levers, said connecting links and levers being arranged so that rotation of shaft 12 causes the steam to be shut off and the air brakes to be set, thus bringing the train to rest automatically, without the attention of the engine driver.

A hand lever 20 integral with said vertical shaft 12 is adapted for use in manually returning the valves 15 and 16 to their respective initial positions after the train has been brought to. rest.

Our invention may be made of any size and constructed of any material deemed convenient and suitable in a device of this charaeter, and while we have illustrated and described a form of construction and arrangement of parts found desirable in material izing our hivention, we wish to include in this application for Letters Patent all mechanical equivalents or substitutes that may fairly be considered to come within the scope and purview of our invention as defined by the appended claims.

Having disclosed our invention, claim is:

1. In a railway safety device, a. duality of rails, and a locomotive upon said rails; in combination with a vertically reciprocating trigger intermediate said rails; a duality of longitudinally disposed parallel shoes pivotally attached to said locomotive, depending therefrom, and adapted to receive said trigger therebetween for the purpose of separating said shoes when the trigger is raised; and means whereby the separation of said shoes by said trigger will shut elf the steam and set the air-brakes upon said locomotive to bring the same to rest.

2. In a safety device to bring a locomotive to rest, a semaphmre, a. trigger placed in the path of travel of said locomotive, means to operate said trigger simultaneously with and from said semaphore, a duality of longitudinally disposed parallel shoes pivotally attached to and depending from said locomotive, and adapted to receive said trigger therebetween for the purpose of separating said shoes, and means whereby the separation of said shoes by said trigger will operate to bring said locomotive to rest.

3. In a safety device for bringing a locomotive to rest, a duality of shoes pivotally attached to and depending from said locomotive each adapted for independent rotation about its respective pivotal point transversely of the locomotive; means whereby said transverse rotation of either of said shoes independently or of both simultaneously may operate to shut ofi the steam and set the air-brakes; and means located in the path of travel of said locomotive to rotate either or both of said shoes transversely of said locomotive as the same passes said means.

4. In a railroad safety device, a duality of what we rails, a locomotive, and a semaphore in combination with a vertically reciprocating trigger intermediate said rails, said trigger being a double ended wedge set longitudinally relative to said rails, a duality of shoes pivotally mounted upon said locomotive and depending beneath same and adapted to contact with said trigger as said locomotive passes said trigger, means whereby either of said shoes independently or both simultaneously may operate to shut off the steam and set the air brakes, and means to operate said trigger simultaneously with said semaphore.

5. In a railroad safety device, a locomotive in combination with a duality of shoes depending therefrom and pivotally mounted thereon, levers acting in concert With said shoes, a shaft adjacent said levers, a cross arm upon said shaft adapted to contact with said levers, avalve in the steam line, of said locomotive, a valve in the air brake service pipe of said locomotive, operable means 19 to connect each of said valves to said shaft,

the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses. 15

CHARLES A. STURM. GEORGE R. HURLBUT. Witnesses:

M. J. BARRETT, G. S. BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

